


The Shift

by Midnightamant



Series: MoonMother Series [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 19:17:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16225589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightamant/pseuds/Midnightamant
Summary: It was just supposed to be a date, but it turned into a fight for our lives. One of us was going to die.Seth Larsen and Annabelle Doley are on their first date in months and nothing goes right. To make matters more complicated, allegiances are constantly shifting. Anna’s ties with her friends, her family and her pack evolve; ties between Anna’s pack, led by Alec, and a neighbouring pack grow increasingly toxic; the werewolves and their enemies, the Hunters (come up with new name, potentially) come to a head when werewolves end up dead. Then, there is a human reporter who gets dangerously close to the werewolves while chasing a story she is definitely not prepared to believe in, let alone write. Relationships between werewolves are always complicated and this one just might prove to be fatal.





	The Shift

**Chapter One**

Something wasn’t right.

He couldn’t place it as he sensed his mate come closer. Any sense of foreboding became secondary as he spied her delicately picking her way through the dead leaves, clearly having not spotted him yet. She was barefoot, so as not to make any noise. He then noticed her smooth, sun-browned skin from all her time outside over the summer. Her wavy chestnut hair came to his notice next, falling to her waist now, slithering unbound along her sweatshirt and flirting with the waistline of her loose-fitting pants. As she neared, he could see her glinting amber eyes swiftly scanning her surroundings. A light speared into them as she spotted him. She smiled and started toward him, uncaring about keeping her steps quiet. He met her halfway. The world seemed to pause as they looked at one another, drinking the other in.

“Hey, stranger,” she stepped closer to him, nearly toe to toe as she spoke quietly.

“Hey,” he said, a little breathlessly.  He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers; she responded by bringing her hands up into his hair, pulling on it slightly earning her a barely concealed groan of attempted restraint. They pulled apart to breathe and he pressed his forehead to hers.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long, Seth,” she whispered, Seth smoothed his hands over her arms, trying to reassure her.

“It’s okay; we’re here now, that’s what matters, Annabelle,” Seth’s murmured words seemed to do nothing to appease Annabelle. She shoved away from him and started pacing.

“No, no, I really didn’t mean to delay meeting all these months-”

“Six, if we’re counting,” Seth chuckled, smirking, trying to tell her with his expression and words that he wasn’t bothered by it.

“Yes, six. I couldn’t get a message to you when I couldn’t come that first time we arranged a date in order to reschedule. My parents have been watching me like a hawk, I didn’t feel like I could sneak out. They put alarms on my door and windows, I couldn’t figure out how to disable them,” Annabelle huffed. Seth stepped in front of her pacing and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I didn’t realise it was this bad. How did you sneak out to see me, then?”

“Well, it’s been six months. They figured ‘whatever we were had died out’ or it was just a phase or something,” Anna swept hair out of her eyes irritably.

“Well, today is as good as any to meet, right?” Seth smiled and Annabelle, unable to stay irritated in his presence as she took in his auburn chin length wavy hair, the slight stubble that had formed around his mouth, smiled back.

“Yes. It’s our one year anniversary.”

“I’m just so happy to finally see you. It doesn’t matter that it took so long, just that we’re here, right now. I scoped out a spot for us to Shift, come on,” Seth took her a few steps in the direction of the bright full moon and stopped when they came to a cluster of brush that would hide their Shifting from view.

“Perfect,” Annabelle approved when she took in the spot he’d found. The brush was dense enough to hide them, but it also wouldn’t scrape against their fur when they found their way out from it after the Shift.

“After you,” Seth swept his hand toward the brush.

“You’re the one that had to walk all the way over here. I still want to enjoy the moonlight like this a bit more,” Annabelle sighed as she tilted her face upward; her eyes closed and her body relaxed.

“Okay.” Seth walked into the brush. He took off his clothing and stuffed it under the brush, hiding it from view. He crouched and tried to relax, but his back crawled; he couldn’t get the fur to flow over him, or his bones to reform.

 _Bad idea. Bad idea._ Seth ignored his rebelling instincts, but he knew Anna had noticed he was taking longer than normal.

“Babe? You okay?” Her voice reached him and he jerked.

“Yeah, fine,” Seth spoke with a suddenly dry mouth. He took a deep, cleansing breath and then another of relief when his fingers and toes started to tingle, then pulse with the weight of the Shift. His joints popped out of place as hair appeared all over his body; there was a _crack_ as his spine realigned, hunching his back; he could feel his jaw and nose elongate and widen, and the pain drew white spots across his vision for a moment before he settled on all fours. He yawned with his wolf muzzle and managed to stand on four trembling limbs. He shook, and he calmed as his fur settled and the tingling dissipated. He weaved out from the brush and brushed up against Anna’s side. She swept a hand down his back and he stretched, luxuriating in the feeling. She disappeared behind the brush, and the sounds of her much faster Shift reached his ears. He whined; he hated hearing his mate in pain, but the Shift was never an easy thing. Her fur, nearly the colour of moonlight, was the first thing he saw as she weaved her way back to him. She stuck her nose behind his ear and huffed before brushing along the side of his body. When he went to do the same to her, she ran off. Seth yelped in surprise before giving chase.

_Creak_

_Swish_

_Snap_

_Gurgle_

These are the sounds he hears as he races to catch up with his mate. They run and gambol through their forest. The branches creak in the swishing of the breeze, and twigs snap underfoot as a far away river gurgles. They howled as one and their timber wolf brethren echoed their call. They started running beside each other, silently cueing each other when to turn left, turn right. They stopped for a bit in a cluster of trees and tussled, mock snarling at each other. his mate veered away from him as they started running again, and a high pitched squealing told him that she’d caught a rabbit. She came back to him with two in her mouth, dropped one in front of him, and they sat happily beside each other as they ate. Full and tired, he found a spot for them to curl up together in a hollowed out tree, protecting his mate as he lay closest to the entrance. He could hear his mate hum in bliss. She snuggled against him and it was not long before they slept.

* * *

 

All of that ended with the sharp pain of her mate desperately tugging at her ear to get her to wake up. She growled at him for interrupting her sleep, but his jaws closed gently over her muzzle, stopping her. He swiveled his ears, telling her silently to listen. She huffed quietly and listened. When she heard what had woken her mate up her insides ran cold.

Footsteps.

Human footsteps coming this way.

The cock of a gun.

Whoever this human was, they were not going to be friendly. She got to her feet. They needed to leave, now. Her mate nudged her out of their spot at a run and was close on her heels as they tore through the forest.

_BANG!_

_BANG!_

Shots rang out behind them, tearing into the night. She knew they wouldn’t be able to go home directly. It would be too risky. They would have to circle around. The shooter roared in anger as the distance between them and their targets increased. She and her mate were nearing the cliffs; the scent of the lake became overwhelming. They'd have to stick to the edge of the cliffs, and circle their way back home. Her mate was slightly ahead of her now, and she was so driven to get back home where they were safe that she didn't see it coming.

_BANG!_

Her mate yelped as he was hit by a bullet, and the force of it caused him to stumble, bringing him closer to the cliffs. She started to run to him-

_BANG!_

Her skin burned as a bullet grazed her ribs. Silver shot. She yelped in pain but saw her mate gain his ground. He lunged at the man – she could smell him now, and this shooter was definitely male – who had used this distraction to get closer. Her mate growled menacingly and she whined in response. They were both getting dangerously close to the cliff again. She saw her mate’s jaws close over the man’s leg and heard the hunter’s bellow of pain. The man shot her mate once more, and she started to move in to help her mate again, but he snarled at her to keep her back. Her back leg exploded in pain and her mate turned his attention to her whine. She saw his distraction, and so did the hunter, because it was simple for the man to shake her mate off and cause him to roll to the edge.

Over into the lake below.

* * *

 

As soon as he heard the hunter nearby, and he smelled the hunter’s rage, he knew it was the end. The hunter was experienced, the way he tracked them and kept his pace. They were running too close to the cliffs, but they had no other choice.

_Kill him._

_Kill him!_

_KILL HIM!_

His wolf wanted blood from the man who dared to threaten what was his. He was willing to do what his wolf wanted, but only if his mate was safe first. But the hunter forced his hand. He hadn't expected the speed with which the hunter gained onto them to enable him to use his weapon. The bang of the gun seemed to silence the birds as pain blossomed into his shoulder, eliciting an unwanted whimper from his throat. His left forepaw gave out and he lost his stride, bringing him dangerously close to the edge. The wound burned, and did not start healing nearly right away as lead bullets usually would. His wolf spoke, distracting him for a second.

 _Silver._  He growled at the realization, and moved on his wolf’s instincts, trusting them. He regained his balance, and shoving the pain away he ran the short distance and leapt at the hunter, getting a grip on his leg and shaking it. The hunter was still able to get a shot off and his breath was taken from him as his stomach burned. He felt his mate begin to come forwards to lend him aid, but he snarled at her. Another shot came from behind her, hitting her back haunch as another hunter came into the fray. Distracted, the hunter was able to shake his leg free and the force of it caused Seth to go over the edge of the cliff and into the water. Instinct took over and he tried to move his paws to keep him floating, but it was futile.

Werewolves couldn't swim.

Water slowly filled his lungs as water rushed over his head, enveloping him in a deathly cocoon. The Bond he shared with his mate strengthened and he was able to see through her eyes, looking down over the cliff at the impact he’d made falling into the water. He was able to feel her fear, her grief. The last thing he heard before the Bond waned and the water fully claimed him was the mournful howl of his mate inside his head.

* * *

 

She howled as loudly as she could, but she didn’t have time to mourn, to grieve over the loss of her mate. She dashed away, her back leg giving her trouble as she tried to outrace two trained killers that used silver bullets. She could feel the proof of that in her wounds; they burned like liquid fire and made it difficult to think.

 _Run, must run. Bad men. Killers. I smell death on them._ Her inner instincts were in overdrive; every smell, every sound was amplified as she dodged bushes, bounded over fallen logs. She ran them in circles; however injured she was, they would tire before she would. They had to. She didn’t have a choice. Gunshots dotted the ground around her like dangerous landmines. She ran until her legs felt like jelly and she could no longer hear them behind her. She ran until she could hear the sounds of the birds again, and found a hollow between some boulders and a large tree to curl up in. She trembled; small whimpers pushed themselves up her throat and out into the night. A black wave of exhaustion swept her under and drowned her in sleep.


End file.
